Dan grew up in Chippewa Falls WI. His experience with sled dogs started about 20 years ago as a way to explore the local winter trails of his new home, Fairbanks, Alaska. He had been a skier and dog owner his whole life; but had no idea how great those two worked together. He got a couple of sled dogs from local mushers and recreationally enjoyed ski-joring for a few years. Dan’s two dogs eventually turned into more and he was forced to leave skis for the relative safety of a dog sled. Dan met Jodi, who was also a recreational ski-jorer. Together they began building what is now Dew Claw Kennel. The name comes from Dan’s first sled dog. A sweet little brown dog named Jpeg, read more at the blog. Dan handled for a musher on the 1998 Yukon Quest. That race introduced him to competitive long distance dog racing and Dan was hooked. Less than 1 month later he took the entire kennel (all nine) to the Percy de Wolfe 200 and the racing life was born. Dan is a veteran of both the Yukon Quest (Veterinarians Choice 2003) and Iditarod (Rookie of the Year 2010). He says he is looking forward to new challenges and many more years of adventure with the Dew Claw dogs. Dan builds sleds and custom dog boxes.
Contact us for more information if you would like something custom built.